Constant Change and Development are Mandatory to Map the Progressive Goals, says Director (UILS), Chandigarh University

 

In a conversation with Shiksha. com, Prof. (Dr) O P Midha, Director UILS, Chandigarh University talks about how Law Department at Chandigarh University integrate technology into its curriculum. According to him, curriculum development is a crucial aspect in the form of a roadmap for both the faculty and students. An ideal curriculum involves the usage of technology in curriculum delivery. 

Prof. (Dr) is currently working as Director (UILS), at Chandigarh University. He has published 16 research papers in National and International journals/conferences and also presented papers and attended a number of conferences and seminars on various subjects of Management and Law in various universities and institutes. 

1. What inspired you to pursue a career in law, and how did you end up in your current role as Director of the Law Department at Chandigarh University?

Law has multifaceted career options. Having a command of the law is very intellectually challenging. It opens the vistas and opportunities for a successful professional life along with an innovative approach to dealing with life. Law is highly dynamic and provides for several new regulations in every field with advancements. It guarantees to always keep learning while studying or working in law.

My journey towards my current role as Director of the law department at Chandigarh University has been always searching for the opportunity to develop the youth with the right approach and passion to constantly develop the ability to analyze and apply the legally connected issues and law reforms in varied aspects of society. I believe that as the Director of the Law Department, I can build a culture of intellectualism and professionalism on the formula of Mutual Trust, Mutual Respect, Performance and Professionalism amongst the students and faculty of law. It is an opportunity to embrace and bring into reality the remarkable upliftment of law students through deliberately designed curriculum, practices, events, competitions, moot court practices, and many other co-curricular and extra-curricular activities that extend outside the lecture rooms while nurturing, guiding and inculcating the discipline in the students. In fact, I cannot envision a better fit for myself in which to follow my passion to legally educate and instil professionalism in our law students.

2. What sets Chandigarh University's Law Department apart from other law schools in India, and how does the department maintain its competitive edge?

UILS, since its inception in the year 2015, has continually evolved with the expansion of academic programs, Curriculum, research work and professional training of the students. UILS at Chandigarh University runs 6 programs BALL.B, BCOMLL.B, BBALL.B, LLB, LLM and Ph.D. To aim at academic excellence, the programs impart legal education with a judicious mix of theoretical, practical and hybrid components. It also encourages students to do Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on LinkedIn, Coursera, SWAYAM etc. from the 1^st year onwards to develop skill and career enhancement courses apart from the Value-Added Courses in trending and relevant areas. UILS has its own Moot Court Society, Community Connect, adopted villages to spread legal awareness, Legal aid cell, Training and Placement Cell, and Workshop series on Drafting, Mooting etc. Multiple competitions in and outside the University, Summer and Winter internships for the students, Student exchange programs, and regular sessions with distinguished legal luminaries and academic achievers. In addition, it has the best infrastructure with qualified and efficient experienced faculty, a diversified population of students from across the globe.

3. How does Chandigarh University's Law Department prepare students for success in the legal profession?

UILS has strong infrastructure and well-qualified faculty to assist inachieving the academic excellence, by imparting the legal education with a judicious mix of theoretical, practical and hybrid components. UILS encourages students to do Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on LinkedIn, Coursera, SWAYAM etc. from the 1^st year onwards to develop skill and career enhancement courses apart from the Value-Added Courses in trending and relevant areas under constant supervision and guidance. UILS has its own Moot Court Society, Community Connect, adopted villages to spread legal awareness, Legal aid cell, Training and Placement Cell, Workshop series on Drafting, Mooting etc. Multiple competitions in and outside the University, Summer and Winter internships for the students, Student exchange programs, regular sessions with distinguished legal luminaries and academic achievers. The students are provided with the exposure to all hierarchies of practices such as NGOs, District and State Legal Services Authorities, Lok Adalat’s, District Courts, High Courts, Supreme Court. It also provides exposure through industrial Visits at parliament, Jail visits, etc.

4. Can you discuss some of the research initiatives that are currently underway within the Law Department at Chandigarh University, and how these initiatives benefit both students and the wider legal community?

UILS is continuously evolving and working upon inculcating the habit of writing good quality research papers and books amongst the faculty and scholars. To ensure the authentic and quality research work the faculty, supervisors and research scholars are emphasized to focus on publications in UGC care list Journals and Scopus Indexed journals. The senior professors are also provided research incentives by University Center of Research and Development (UCRD) for taking up research projects. The department is planning to collaborate with government funding agencies to provide short term, medium term and long-term research projects to students and faculty on various relevant socio-legal and environmental issues.

5. How does the Law Department at Chandigarh University integrate technology into its curriculum, and what impact has this had on student learning outcomes?

Curriculum development is a crucial aspect in the form of a roadmap for both the faculty and students. An ideal curriculum involves the usage of technology in curriculum delivery. Technology such as adoption of Cloud based application (Learning Management System of Chandigarh University), online study material, digital learning, e-library, free Wi-Fi on campus, and constant and strict surveillance through e-governance for monitoring the timely and efficient quality delivery in classes is used to make legal education and curriculum more relatable and engaging.

It has helped in improving the classroom engagement and educational outcomes, motivational levels, performance and achievements of students. It has enabled students with instant access to a wide spectrum of knowledge and various types of learning materials.

6. Can you discuss any recent developments or changes within the Law Department at Chandigarh University that you are particularly excited about, and how these changes will benefit students?

Constant change and development are mandatory to map progressive goals. UILS at Chandigarh University has gone through constant and remarkable developments.

• Establishment of the Moot Court Society: It aims to regularly arrange workshops with law students to train them on moots for participation in National and International Competitions. The students are motivated and bring laurels to the Institute and University. The society even arranges special sessions on moots for the students of 12^th standard from various schools to acquaint them about the career possibilities by choosing law for their career.
• Establishment of Training and Placement Cell: It focusses on providing good internships to the students, training and placements in various corporate sectors in New Delhi, Gurugram, and Chandigarh. It is working tirelessly to expand its horizons to other metropolitan cities of India and even at international level. UILS has lately collaborated with Corporate Resource Center of Chandigarh University to ensure quality placements of the students.
• Workshops on Drafting Skills: Series of workshops are conducted to upskill the students on drafting. This instills confidence and practical learning in students which is essential for advocacy.
• Training for Judiciary, JAGS and Other Competitive Exams: In collaboration with the DCPD of Chandigarh University, the students are prepared for judiciary, JAGS and other competitive examinations.
• Annual National/International Moot Court Competitions: On annual basis, UILS hosts National/ International Moot Court Competitions to provide exposure to the junior law students to learn while observing the moot court sessions.

7. How does the Law Department at Chandigarh University support students' professional development, including opportunities for internships, networking, and post-graduation job placement?

UILS is constantly working to support the law students to develop and progress in the following ways:

• Imparting the legal education with a judicious mix of theoretical, practical and hybrid components.
• Strong infrastructure and well qualified and experienced faculty.
• Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on LinkedIn, Coursera, SWAYAM etc. from the 1^st year onwards to develop skill and career enhancement courses apart from the Value-Added Courses in trending and relevant areas.
• Moot Court Society, Community Connect, adopted villages to spread legal awareness, Legal aid cell, Training and Placement Cell, Workshop series on Drafting, Mooting etc. Multiple competitions in and outside the University, Summer and Winter internships for the students, Student exchange programs, regular sessions with distinguished legal luminaries and academic achievers.
• The students are provided with the exposure to all hierarchies of practices such as NGOs, District and State Legal Services Authorities, Lok Adalat’s, District Courts, High Courts, Supreme Court. It also provides exposure through industrial Visits at parliament, Jail visits, etc.
• Inculcating the habit of writing good quality research papers.
• Adoption of Cloud based application (Learning Management System of Chandigarh University), online study material, digital learning, e-library, free Wi-Fi on campus, constant and strict surveillance through e-governance for monitoring the timely and efficient quality delivery in classes is used to make legal education and curriculum more relatable and engaging.
• Regular workshops for law students to train them on moots for participation in National and International Competitions.
• Providing good internships to the students, training and placements in various corporate sectors in New Delhi, Gurugram, and Chandigarh.
• Conducting series of workshops to upskill the students on drafting.
• The students are prepared for judiciary, JAGS and other competitive examinations.
• UILS hosts National/ International Moot Court Competitions to provide exposure to the junior law students to learn while observing the moot court sessions.

8. What do you believe are the most pressing legal issues facing India today, and how does the Law Department at Chandigarh University work to address these issues within its curriculum?

With growing competition to develop, all kind of workings need to be technologically advanced. Being a non-techno savvy is a major hurdle in this digital era. In my opinion, the most pressing legal issue facing India is the Cyber security and the crimes related to it. Cyberspace is infinite and has the potential to grow infinitely. The global IT revolution, emergence of new technologies such as Artificial intelligence, Internet, e-commerce industry, new mode of payments, new form of currency, issues pertaining to the governance of cyber space and more particularly the post covid-19 new world order have necessitated the need to focus on legal research pertaining to new kinds of cybercrimes, issues related to cyber security and data protection and online privacy laws.

UILS to deal maturely with these concerns has taken the following steps:

• Introduced courses on Data Protection and privacy as part of the curriculum.
• Conducts expert sessions on Cyber security and cyber-crime by senior advocates.
• Conducts awareness program for academicians and students such as on Cyber security and Myths about the ill effects of Radiations from Mobile Towers in association with Department of Telecom (DoT), Govt. of India, Punjab Licensed Service Area, Chandigarh.
• Conduct special session for students and guide them for more research in this area.